Gone
by kaehimi
Summary: After a horrible accident where all of his friends were injured, Yami takes a trip to the hospital. But all he finds is...


****

Gone

By Kaehimi

Disclaimer: I do not own "Yu-Gi-Oh!"

Summary:

After a horrible accident where all of his friends were injured, Yami takes a trip to the hospital. But all he finds is...

Note: Kinda OOC

Yami rushed into the room, pushing the revolving door so fast it kept on spinning even after he passed through it. He had come as quickly as he hard the news from his hotel room. Yugi Mouto - top duelist, was in a near fatal accident in a car while with his friends. 'Looking for me, no doubt...' Yami thought, then pushed the overwhelming guilt aside. 'I'll berate myself later. Now, I need to see how badly they're hurt.'

Thoughts raced through his mind at almost an incomprehensible speed. He gulped for breath while leaning forward, both hands on the desk in front of him. "Téa, Tristan, Joey...Yugi..." He managed to gasp out.

The secretary raised an eyebrow, but then flicked her eyes to the computer screen. She was used to this kind of emotional outburst from worried relatives and friends. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, only pausing to scribble down the room numbers. Visiting period was long over, but her instinct was telling her to give this young man permission. "Here." She handed him the scrap of paper. Nodding a grateful thank you, Yami took off towards the elevators.

Once in, he looked down at the paper with four room numbers on it. 'Which one is which?' He wondered, but then ignored it and pressed the floor level of the first room. 'Just take it one at a time.' He thought to himself. The elevator door opened and Yami walked down the hall. All of the rooms were identical, each with the same type of handle, frame, and color. He glanced at the numbers until he came to the one he was looking for.

Yami knocked on the door and a groan answered him. "Come in." It was Tristan.

Pushing open the door, Yami entered. "Tristan," He whispered, and ran to his friend's side.

"Hey, glad to see you," Tristan smiled.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh sure," Tristan assured him. "I got off easy." He showed Yami his arm. "I'll be out by tomorrow." Then, his face saddened. "But I feel so bad for Joey."

"Feel better, I'm going to check up on the others." Yami gripped Tristan's good hand in a shake and left.

A few doors down the hall, and Yami came upon Joey's room. His door was slightly ajar, and there were voices from within it. Serenity and Joey. Yami entered to find a pained looking Joey lying on a bed while his sister sat in a chair, keeping him company. With a mask over his face, he didn't look too good. "Joey!" Yami yelled as he made his way towards him.

Joey moved his head slightly and winced. "Hey man." His voice was weak.

"Yami!" Serenity smiled up at him. "It's so great you could make it!"

"I grabbed the first bus." Yami took the other seat next to Joey, across from Serenity. "You okay?"

Joey tried to laugh, but coughed and wheezed instead. The mask over his mouth moved and Serenity adjusted it for him. When he could breathe again, he insisted, "Just a few scratches."

Serenity rolled her eyes, then turned to Yami. "A rib punctured his lungs, and he has a shattered knee."

Yami grimaced.

"It's nothing." Joey paused. "But I wonder if everyone else made it out safely?"

Yami pursed his lips and nodded. "Tristan is okay, I just saw him." Joey smiled. "Take good care of your brother." Yami whispered to Serenity as he rose and exited.

"I don't need to be taken care of!" Joey cried in protest, and Serenity giggled.

Yami headed up to the next floor, flying up the stairs. The next door was closed, and no one answered Yami. Finally, he opened it and found himself face to face with the tomb robber.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Yami Bakura sneered. "**You** are not welcome."

Yami was about to snap a retort, but bit it back. This time, the tomb robber was right. He opened his mouth, and after a few chokes, got out an apology. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

Yami Bakura flashed him a satisfied smirk, but still wouldn't let him pass. "You're the reason everyone is here." He was rubbing salt in Yami's wounds.

"Please," Yami began to plea, but stopped himself. His pride could not take it, and he turned to leave. No one stopped him.

A few moments passed, and Yami was in the hall when it reached him. "He's been hit in the head, badly. Bakura's in a coma." Yami Bakura's voice lost none of its hardness, but Yami could tell he was trying to hide his concern.

He turned around. "I- I'm sorry." He said again, and walked back in.

This time, Yami Bakura allowed him to pass.

Bakura was lying on a bed, and there was an assortment of things sticking out of him. A heart monitor beeped gently with each haggard breath. "Damn right you should be sorry." Yami Bakura was now standing next to Yami. "I commanded him not to go, but he didn't listen to me. Idiot."

Yami turned and was about to lecture him when he continued. "I was going to punish him when he returned, but I never got the chance to."

Together, for the first time in many millennia, they stood side by side and peered down at the fragile child. Yami could hear Yami Bakura clench his teeth and prepared himself for a verbal onslaught of insults. A flurry of white hair, and he was pinned against the wall. "You bastard!" Yami Bakura pressed a dagger that appeared in his hand against Yami's neck. "It's all your fault!"

Yami didn't try to stop the blows. It hurt, but couldn't compare to the pain of his heart. He hated the tomb robber with a passion, but he could never imagine losing his aibou either. Finally, Yami Bakura stopped his pummeling and his gaze once again turned to Yami. "Get out."

Yami obliged. Once again in the hall, he looked at the list in his hand. One more room to go. 'Must be Yugi!' He concluded. Within a few moments, he was there. Opening the door, Yami walked in. "Yugi?"

A soft reply answered him. "Yami?"

Yami drew back the curtain that was there and saw Téa sitting in a chair. "Téa?!" He gasped. "What happened?" He rushed over and knelt by her, stroking her hand. When he let go to clasp her shoulders, he hand flopped into an awkward position. Yami stared in shock, then he saw a paper next to Téa. "Paralyzed from neck down?"

His eyes slowly met hers. "No..."

She nodded sadly, reluctantly. "Yes. I'll never be able to dance again."

"I am sorry." Yami gulped and rubbed his forehead. This couldn't be happening! 

"Yami, please don't be mad at yourself." Téa whispered.

"But I am. And I should be." Yami turned his back on her and struck the nearest wall with a crushing blow of his fist. "This is all my fault."

"Yami..." Téa tried to lean forward, but couldn't. "Yugi told me about your argument. He said that he was sorry he yelled at you."

Yami turned to look at her. "He shouldn't have apologized. I should have. Damn pride." He felt the annoying tears coming back again. With an angry burst of will power, he pushed them back again.

"Yami, you have to forgive yourself. You had no idea this would happen. Besides, you just wanted to go to that tournament. It's in your soul to love dueling, and Yugi understood that. He was just upset that you would overlook his grandpa so easily." Téa tried to lift her arm to hold him, but it wouldn't move.

Yami sighed. "I should have cared. Yugi's grandfather was the most important person in his life. I should have stayed with him."

Téa felt tears well up in her eyes also. She hated seeing Yami blame himself for everything. "Yami, if you need to tell someone what happened, I'm here to listen."

Yami nodded. Perhaps that was the best thing to do. "It was a while ago...

__

~Yugi hung up the phone and ran to his room, where Yami was packing. "Yami!" He called. 

Yami stopped his packing and looked at his aibou. "Yes?"

"Grandpa fell down while on some stairs! He's in the hospital! We have to go see him!" Yugi said in a string of words, highly worried and panicking.

"Aibou, the tournament starts soon, and we have to catch the train in less than an hour if we want to get there on time." Yami closed his suitcase.

"But Yami! We have to visit Grandpa!" Yugi grabbed his dark's wrist and began pulling him towards the door. "Come on, maybe we can get a taxi!"

Yami brushed off Yugi's hand. "Yugi, your grandfather will recover. We cannot miss a tournament."

"Sure we can!" Yugi smiled. "Now let's go!"

"No, Yugi. I have to catch the train, I already told you."

"Yami, no tournament is more important than friends and family!" Yugi was near tears.

Yami sighed. "Yugi, don't you understand? Dueling is more important to me." Before he realized what he had said, Yugi had already frozen in shock.

"What?"

  
Frantically, Yami tried to take back what he said. "No, that's not what I meant!"

"You did! You don't care about anyone but yourself and your cards!" Yugi screamed.

"No, Yugi. Listen to me!"

"No! I hate you! All you care about is winning!" 

"Yugi. You are not thinking. What is wrong with you today?!" Yami's infamous temper had been sparked.

"No, it's not me. It's you! You're all messed up." Yugi was breathing heavily now.

"Yugi, I was pharaoh. You dare say I didn't care about my people?"

"Yes! You just liked it because it gave you power!" Yugi was sobbing now. "I hate you! Go to your competition, and take the puzzle with you!" Without waiting for a response, Yugi ripped the puzzle from his neck and hurled it at him.~

Yami shook his head. "And I didn't even do anything. I just left." 

Téa nodded, acknowledging the information. No wonder Yugi had seemed so upset. "Well, if you want to know, his room number is 4254."

Yami waved and began to leave when she spoke again. "Remember, Yami, Yugi forgave you. You need to forgive yourself."

Yami smiled at her again, before closing the door. He climbed to the 4th floor, and headed towards the room. He shivered involuntarily when he realized this was the critical section. It seemed to take an eternity to reach the door. Maybe he was just walking slowly, or maybe the door was running from him. Yami shook the feeling out of his head and then paused at the door. "Aibou?" He whispered.

There was no answer. Yami couldn't speak to him through his mind, because he held both halves of the Millennium Puzzle. It felt wrong to have the light half, but there was nothing he could do about it. With a deep breath, Yami opened the door.

The only person inside was a nurse, cleaning the room. Confused, Yami tapped her on the shoulder. The nurse turned around and jumped. "May I help you?" She asked nervously.

"I'm looking for Yugi Mouto. Is this his room?" Yami was worried, what was going on?

The nurse calmed down. "You are his brother?" Yami nodded. She sighed. "Yes. This was Yugi Mouto's room."

"Was? What do you mean by was?" Yami's heart was beating quicker and quicker.

"I'm sorry. My job is to clean rooms when people leave." The nurse resumed her dusting.

"Leave? So he's okay?" Yami's heart leapt up and he felt lighter than he ever did before.

The nurse shook her head. She swallowed and then pointed up. "He's in a happier place now."

A heavy thud, and then Yami understood. His aibou was gone. Gone forever from his life. Gone.

With a sob, Yami collapsed to his knees and wept.

****

Kaehimi: Horrible, horrible ending. So sorry.


End file.
